LABOUR was accused today of attempting to remove local democratic power from councils amid plans to bypass them in an overhaul of planning rules.

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner wants to give Whitehall officials the power to rubber-stamp development proposals without permission from council committees under proposed reforms to speed up planning applications.

Such a move aims to end delays to new homes, cut time and resources spent on individual schemes and provide more certainty to housebuilders.

But a spokesperson for left-wing group Momentum warned: “This risks transferring powers from elected councillors to unelected officials. 

“Housebuilding figures have failed to meet government targets due to a combination of cuts to planning departments, the slashing of funding for council and social housing, and the unwillingness of real estate developers to invest at scale. 

“An easier route, which would offer much bigger benefits to working-class communities, would be to invest in a massive programme of new council housing.”

The government is expected this week to confirm sweeping changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, the document which sets out national priorities for building, following a consultation.

This is expected to see increased housing targets, which will be mandatory for the first time, with the aim of reaching the government’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes this parliament.

Ms Rayner said: “Because we haven’t had these compulsory plans locally, we’ve seen speculative development where greenbelt land has been developed on … we’ve told councils they’ve got to have those plans.

“If developers follow the national framework, which protects the environment and looks at other elements, then they shouldn’t be stuck in the system for years.”

The Deputy Prime Minister insisted the changes were necessary to bring about the biggest increase in housebuilding since the 1950s.

Councillor Adam Hug, the Local Government Association’s housing spokesman, said: “Councils and local communities know their local areas best, and need to be full partners in tackling the housing crisis together.

“Councils need the right powers, skills, resources and funding to act and want to work with government and the development and housebuilding industry.”  

National Housing Federation chief executive Kate Henderson has insisted that reforms are needed to hit the government’s “really ambitious” housebuilding target.